Poetry

In A User's Guide to Spacetime, the human desire to be immortal is a recurrent theme. Thus, in "Techwed," as the carrier of life, the astronaut "dons an algorithm like a vest, / Assembles the hybrid," and then "hears the wheels of Infinity grind." In "Siblings of the Sun," he is "Born in the unconscious," and, in "Pseudosphere," he is "in Ge's breath-body based." Significantly, even in "Herald," although the Hermetic lapis, "the figure [of Christ] veiled in matter," exists "in some other place [. . .] / Light years from Earth," the astronaut himself remains immortal because he is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. For that reason, in "Compass," he may "Restore the Rebis"--the "dual being born of the alchemical union of opposites" (masculine/feminine) and recognized as "a symbol of the self"--and may "Beyond the compass of the symbol rise." In other words, as these poems demonstrate, "Faith-based the astronaut pursues his course" ("Station"). However, they also suggest that, when the treasure is hard to attain, there is always "more to be sought than the scripture".

Fleeing the ashes of Troy, Aeneas, Achilles' mighty foe in the Iliad, begins an incredible journey to fulfill his destiny as the founder of Rome. His voyage will take him through stormy seas, entangle him in a tragic love affair, and lure him into the world of the dead itself--all the way tormented by the vengeful Juno, Queen of the Gods. Ultimately, he reaches the promised land of Italy where, after bloody battles and with high hopes, he founds what will become the Roman empire. An unsparing portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and fate, the Aeneid redefines passion, nobility, and courage for our times. Robert Fagles, whose acclaimed translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were welcomed as major publishing events, brings the Aeneid to a new generation of readers, retaining all of the gravitas and humanity of the original Latin as well as its powerful blend of poetry and myth. Featuring an illuminating introduction to Virgil's world by esteemed scholar Bernard Knox, this volume lends a vibrant new voice to one of the seminal literary achievements of the ancient world.

Composed by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon singer toward the end of the first millennium CE, Beowulf is an Old English epic tale recounting the adventures of Beowulf, a Geatish hero from present-day Sweden. He is called on by Hrothgar, King of the Danes, to defeat Grendel, the powerful monster that threatens his great hall.

As one of the earliest extant poems in a modern European language, it depicts a feudal world of blood, victory, and death--a world that exalts heroes who travel great distances to prove their strength, at impossible odds, against supernatural demons and beasts.

Ringing with the beauty, power, and artistry that have kept its poetry alive for a thousand years, this venerable tale is now available as an elegantly designed clothbound edition with an elastic closure and a new introduction from Tom Schneider.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis loved literature, especially poetry. "Once you can express yourself," she wrote, "you can tell the world what you want from it. All the changes in the world, for good or evil, were first brought about by words." Now, Caroline Kennedy shares her mother's favorite poems and the worlds behind her strong belief in the power of literature. A wonderful volume for reading aloud or by yourself, a meaningful gift or keepsake, The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis offers an intimate view of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' world, and a poignant glimpse into her heart.

"It's the poet's job to figure out what's happening within oneself, to figure out the connection between the self and the world, and to get it down in words that have a certain shape, that have a chance of lasting." --Galway Kinnell
This long-awaited volume brings together for the first time the life's work of a major American voice.

In a remarkable generation of poets, Galway Kinnell was an acknowledged, true master. From the book-length poem memorializing the grit, beauty, and swarming assertion of immigrant life along a lower Manhattan avenue, to searing poems of human conflict and war, to incandescent reflections on love, family, and the natural world--including "Blackberry Eating," "St. Francis and the Sow," and "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps"--to the unflinchingly introspective poems of his later life, Kinnell's work lastingly shaped the consciousness of his age.

Spanning 65 years of intense, inspired creativity, this volume, with its inclusion of previously uncollected poems, is the essential collection for old and new devotees of a "poet of the rarest ability . . . who can flesh out music, raise the spirits, and break the heart." (Boston Globe)

In Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems, fans may indulge in all of Poe's most imaginative short-stories, including The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in Rue Morgue, The Tell-Tale Heart, Ligeia, and Ms. In a Bottle. His complete early and miscellaneous poetic masterpieces are here also, including The Raven, Ulalume, Annabel Lee, Tamerlane, as well as select reviews and narratives.

The life of American writer Edgar Allan Poe was characterized by a dramatic series of successes and failures, breakdowns and recoveries, personal gains and hopes dashed through, despite which he created some of the finest literature the world has ever known. Over time, his works have influenced such major creative forces as the French poets Charles Baudelaire and Andre Gide, filmmaker D.W. Griffith, and modern literary legend Allen Ginsberg. Best known for his poems and short fiction, Poe perfected the psychological thriller, invented the detective story, and rarely missed transporting the reader to his own supernatural realm. He has also been hailed posthumously as one of the finest literary critics of the nineteenth century.

Jason E. "Jay" Walker was raised in Cranston, a suburb at the southern border of Providence, RI. He's never been interested in anything but the arts and humanities - entertaining, educating, inspiring, moving, and connecting (with) people - and everything he's done with his life is to pursue his lifelong dream of success in those fields. He was first alternate for the Providence Poetry Slam(TM) team in 1999 and has performed in and/or hosted poetry events throughout the RI area. He's also an established actor in RI independent film and semi-professional theater. He currently lives in Hopedale, MA, but he plans to one day live in warmer climes and travel the world.

These poems, which examine the spiritual as well as the psychological effects of being a Christian, offer an amalgam of diverse yet related influences: John Donne's "Holy Sonnets"; Alfred, Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam A.H.H.; and Emily Dickinson's "Behind me--dips Eternity--." Another significant source may also be apparent: the sonnet sequences of such Renaissance poets as Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, and William Shakespeare. However, although the poems in Galactic Pilgrim generate a sense of thematic sequence, and although--composed of octets with variable rhyme schemes--they proceed in the same stanzaic form, they are, most decidedly, not sonnets. Rather, they are, as samples of formal poetry, what their author prefers to call either "triads" (since each poem contains three stanzas) or "quaternals" (a coinage that underscores the role of the reader as the fourth component, the co-creative entity, that responds to, and intertwines with, each triadic structure). All in all, reflecting key concepts from Jungian psychology and the new physics, these patterned lyrics seek to unfold--through form no less than through content--a unified and coherent philosophic vision steeped in the model life of the Christian Redeemer.

Troubling things are happening at a small town asylum. Trapped in a patient room during a riot, one nurse records what might be her final thoughts-and peers into the minds of her subjects in a series of disturbing stories. Fearing for her life, she desperately waves her hand through the bars of her window hoping someone will notice and help... but by then it may be too late.

Leah Keith has won the Allen Ginsberg Award for outstanding poetry through the VSA of RI three times, and she was chosen to represent them as their Poet Laureate for the past three years. As the Poet Laureate she has been given themes to write about and read her poems at certain events such as, the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act at the Pawtucket, Rhode Island Town Hall.
Leah has a voice and she wants you to know it. She wants you to hear her before you decide who she is. She wants you to see her and take the time to get to know her before you think you already do. She will surprise you with her unique wisdom and colorful sense of humor. She is not what you expect her to be. She is proud of who she Is and she makes no apologies for it. In this book Leah uses her voice in the form of poetry and art.